The Beach Party

The Beach Party is not one of my favourite ever shorts, but I find it a delightful one all the same for many reasons. The animation is very good here, the black and white is crisp and I love how fluid and bouncy it all is. The music is catchy and upbeat, with a great sense of rhythm and beautiful orchestration. The characters are all great in their own way. Mickey has always been likable and he is here, even if he doesn't have the best moments of The Beach Party, while Pluto is cute and full of energy with some of the best gags and the octopus is suitably antagonistic. I also love The Beach Party for having two oft-neglected characters Horace and Clarabelle, and their gags are some of the funniest they ever had. The story is not the most original in terms of concept, but skips along nicely. But The Beach Party's best asset is the sight gags. There are plenty of them, and a vast majority of them are hilarious. Pluto's encounters with a crab is similar to Hawaiian Holiday but funny all the same, and the fight with the octopus is inspired, but for me the best part is Mickey getting tangled in Clarabelle's bloomers and she clobbers him thinking he's an astray sea creature. In conclusion, a delightful Disney short if perhaps not quite among the masterpieces. 9/10 Bethany Cox